Things couldn’t have gone any better for Kellen Moore during his one-and-done season as Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator. Saquon Barkley won the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year trophy and probably should have been voted league MVP. He also earned mentions as a Pro Bowler and First-Team All-Pro after becoming only the ninth player to join the 2,000-yard club.

Cam Jurgens, Landon Dickerson, and Lane Johnson were all named to the Pro Bowl roster. Lane was also named as a Second-Team All-Pro and was joined there by Jordan Mailata and A.J. Brown.

Moore helped Philadelphia field the NFL’s second-ranked rushing attack. They scored 55 points in the NFC Championship Game, the highest total posted by any team ever on that weekend.

Jalen Hurts won the game’s MVP trophy. Philadelphia’s 40 total points were a combination of a Cooper DeJean pick-six, steady work by Jake Elliott, and efficient play by Moore’s offense.

The Eagles cleansed Kellen’s soul of the sins of his Dallas Cowboys affiliation. Still, unfortunately, though he eventually did his former club a solid in the ‘Tush Push’ vote, it seems unlikely that he’ll see similar success to what he found in Philadelphia during his first run as New Orleans Saints head coach.

The former Eagles OC has a ton of work to do in New Orleans

As exciting as it has to be to an NFL head coach, there is also a ton of pressure. One, there are only 32 of these jobs in the world. Second, earning one typically means there’s an opening because the team has underperformed.

The good news for Kellen is that his opportunity comes in the NFC South. Little is expected of the division-rival Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be his most significant roadblock to superiority, but Coach Moore also has some bad news to consider.

His best quarterback had health concerns. Then, he retired. Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough will need to get up to speed quickly, or we could be in for another run by Spencer Rattler.

Those Panthers, Bucs, and Falcons all posted better records than the Saints did this past regular season. You were warned that this climb wouldn’t be easy. Birds fans will be pulling for Moore, unless, of course, his team is playing the Eagles. By the looks of things, however, if these two teams don’t meet in the postseason, that won’t be happening during the 2025-26 NFL campaign.

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Kellen Moore’s first big test as Saints head coach could be painful